Reenforced shopping bag



April 21, 1964 L, E, CANNO 3,129,848

REENFORCED SHOPPING BAG Filed Nov. 29. 1961 2 UH zo' (3 l8l Y., l L

as' L RMI 2 "k3b 36j lelkzo' l l i amm, l :M I 26 INVENTOR. I 30 W BY W m (W AT TOR NE YS United States Patent O 3,129,848 REENFRCED SHOPPING BAG Leonard E. Carino, New York, NX., assignor to Equitable Paper Bag Co. Inc., Long Island City, NSY., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 155,751 11 Claims. (Cl. 229-55) This invention relates to bags and methods of making lbags. More particularly, the invention relates to the reinforcing of the bottom of shopping bags.

Shopping bags made of paper 4and provided with cord or other handles are becoming increasingly popular for use in carrying home merchandise purchased at a store. They are for the most part an expend-ible item, and whether the store makes a small charge for the bag or gives it away, it is important that the cost of such bags be as low as possible. The cost is determined largely by the amount of paper used to make the bags. For a bag of a particular size, the area of paper used can be changed only within narrow lim-its, depending upon such conditions as the width of seams, and types of fold; but the weight and grade of the paper used can make a great difference in cost. For -this reason, bags that are made of lighter paper and provided with reinforcing at the bottom where the load is greatest are as durable or stronger than lbags whose entire area is made of heavier paper because of the laminated construction in the ill-formed areas. This permits a reduction in the cost of paper used in the sides of the bag.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved, reenforced shopping bag and to reduce cost still further by reducing the amount of paper required for reenforcing without reducing the strength of the bag.

Another object is to provide a method of making reenforced shopping bags at lower cost, without requiring any changes in the bag-making machinery and without reducing the speed at which ythe machines can operate. This invention obtains the same strength as in reenforced shopping bags of the prior art while not only reducing the amount of paper used, but it also reduces thickness of paper which has to be cut in the bag-makingmachine.

Other objects, features `and advantages ofthe invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views;

lFIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic View showing a web with handles and reenforcing strips attached thereto and showing the way in which the web is formed into a tubular element and bag blanks are formed by severing the tubular element at spaced apart locations;

FIGURE 2 is a greatly enlarged view of one of the bag blanks shown in FIGURE 1 and with part of one side broken away to more clearly illustrate the construction;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of FIGURE 2, but with the bag opened up to separate the sides and form the flat bottom of the bag; and

FIGURE 4 is a greatly enlarged sectional View taken on the line 4 4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 1 shows a web 10 with longitudinal edges 11 and 12. Handles 14, preferably made of paper cord, are attached to the web at longitudinally spaced locations along the web. There are two handles 14 at each location to provide handles on both sides of the finished bag.

The handles 14 are secured to the web 10 by patches 16 bonded to the web 10 by glue or other adhesive; the ends of the cord handles '14 being located between the patches 16 and the confronting areas of the web 10.

Prior to the attachment of the handles 14 to the web,`

cuts 18 are made through the web at locations which 3,129,848 Patented Apr. 21, 1964 are recessed or offset from the eventual line of severance along which the individual bag blanks are cut apart. This eventual line of severance is indicated by the dash line 20. The construction thus far described is conventional for making .shopping bags having cord handles.

There are reenforcing strips 24 bonded to the web 1i) at spaced locations along the web. Each of these reenforcing strips 24 extends for substantially the full width of the web 10 and the spacing of the strips 24 is the same as the spacing of the handles in the direction of the length of the web.

Each reenforcing stnip `24 is spaced a substantial distance from the line 20 and from the cut 18; and each strip 24 is preferably located somewhat beyond the grip portions of the handles 14 and in the opposite direction from the patches 1'6 which connect the handles to the web.

Since the lines 18 and 20 represent the top edge of one bag blank and the bottom edge of the next `adjacent bag blank, the reenforcing strip 2,4 of each blank is located near the bottom of the blank but spaced a substantial distance therefrom. In FIGURE l there is a dotted line 26 which is the line along which the bag blank is folded inwardly to form the bottom of a bag. The reenforcing strip 24 is located so that a portion of its area is above the line 26 and another portion is below line 26.

When the web 10 is folded to form a tubular element 1o', as shown in the lower part of FIGURE 1, the reenforcing strip 24 is within the longitudinal seam 2S of the tubular element. This is not essential for the invention but it is a practical feature since it makes the manufacture of the bag blanks simpler and permits wider manufactoring tolerances. At the lower part of FIGURE l the web 10 is shown severed to lform two bag blanks 30. The upper end of the bag blank is indicated by the reference characters 1-8 and 20 which represent the line of cut along the top of the bag blank 30. This same cut forms the lower edge of the next bag blank, but the recess portion 18 at the top of the bag causes a protruding portion 18 at the lower end ofthe bag `and the lower edge of the bag is indicated by the reference lcharacter 18 and 20', this edge being the complementary edge left when the bag blank is cut from the web.

FIGURE 2 shows one of the bag blanks 30 on a larger scale. The reenforcing strip 24 is partly broken away to show the adhesive 32 by which the reenforcing strip is bonded to the material of the web, preferably over the entire area of the reenforcing strip 24.

The bag blank 30 has slits 36 extending inwardly from the bottom edge 20 and for a substantial distance upwardly to facilitate the folding of the bottom of the blank. InV

the construction shown these slits 36 extend slightly beyond the lower edge of the reenforcing strip 24 but this is not necessary and the slits may extend exactly to the bottom edge of the reenforcing strip or may stop some distance below it. It is a feature that the ends of the slits 36 are adjacent to the lower edge of the reenforcing strip 24.

The sides of the bag on all four sides are bent inwardly, when the bag blank is in its open position, along the line 26. This causes overlapping of the sides across portions of the bottom.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show the way in which the bottom of the bag is formed. Referring especially to FIGURE 4 it will be evident that the bottom edges 18 of t'wo opposite sides of the bag overlap one another for a substantial distance indicated by the dimension s. Theramount of this overlap is determined by the way in which the bag is folded. It may be more or less than that indicated in FIGURE 4.

With this invention, however, it is a feature that the reenforcing strip 24 is located so that a portion of the reenforcing strip extends inwardly across the bottom of the bag and preferably over that portion where the sides of the bag do not overlap. In other words the reenforcing strip 24 does not extend over the area of the bottom which is indicated by the dimension arrow s.

In FIGURE 4 the actual distance between the opposite edges of the inwardly extending portions of the reenforcing strip 24 are indicated by the dimension arrow S. These dimensions s and S may be the same. In the construction shown they are not and there is some portion of the bottom beyond the overlapping sides which is not covered by the reenforcing strip 24. This slight spacing makes no difference in the eventual strength of the bag. It is sufficient for purposes of this invention, that inwardly extending portions of the reenforcing strip 24 extends substantially to the portion of the bottom where the sides overlap and give the bottom a double thickness. If the reenforcing strip 24 extends further inwardly and covers the portions of the bottom that are already of double thickness, the purpose of the invention is lost to the extent that more paper is used than necessary.

This correlation between the inwardly extending portions of the strip 24 and the part of the bottom which is of double thickness because of the overlapping of the inturned sides of the bag applies to the narrow dimension of the bag. The sides of the bag are also turned inwardly from the narrow faces of the bag but since these extend along the major or longer dimension of the bottom they do not come anywhere near to overlapping. They give the bag a quadruple thickness in certain places which is incidental to the construction of bags of this type. In FIG- URE 3 the inward limits of the sides of the bag which extend from the narrow faces are indicated by the refrence characters 41 and 42. The bottom edges of the reenforcing strip 2.4 extend inwardly from the narrow sides of the bag by the same distance as they do from the wide sides but this is incidental. The critical dimension of the inwardly extending portions of the reenforcing strip 24 are correlated with the sides of the bag that extend across the narrow width of the bag and this determines also the extent to which the reenforcing strip extends inwardly from the narrow sides.

The edges of the sides and reenforcing strips that are turned inwardly from the right-hand side of the bag of FIGURE 3 are shown in elevation in FIGURE 4.

The thickness of the material is greatly exaggerated in these views in order to have sections thick enough to permit section lining.

When the bag is formed by bending the side portion inwardly with the overlap indicated in FIGURES 3 and 4 and with the parts bonded together with adhesive in the conventional manner, the bag is then folded along the lines 44 of FIGURE 2 to obtain a square bottom bag of the self-opening type.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used in diiferent combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A shopping bag having a reenforced bottom, the bag comprising a tubular element having side walls and being open at one end and folded to form a ilat bottom at the other end, handle portions at the open end of the bag, a reenforcing strip on the inside of the bag and bonded to the tubular element and extending part way across, but only part way across the bottom of the bag from all sides of the bag, the reenforcing strip extending around the corners where the side walls meet the bottom and part way up the side walls.

2. The shopping bag described in clairn l, and in which the tubular element is folded at the bottom along a length of material of said tubular element suiiicient to provide a double thickness of the material across a major portion of the bottom that is inward from the lower edges of the reenforcing strip.

3. The shopping bag described in claim l, and in which the reenforcing strip is bonded directly to the material of the tubular element over the entire area of the strip and the strip is incorporated into the folds of the bottom of the bag.

4. The shopping bag described in claim l, and in which the bottom is formed partly of material extending inward from opposite sides of the bag and overlapping for a portion of the distance between said opposite sides, and the reenforcing strip covers parts of the bottom between said opposite sides and the overlapping portions of said material extending inward from the opposite sides of the bag.

5. The shopping bag as described in claim l, vand in which the bag is a longitudinally seamed tube with a lap seam and the handle portions of the bag are cords and the cords have ends anchored to the opposite sides of the bag by patches of material, each of which is a strip bonded to the inside of the sides of the bag but extending for only a relatively short distance transversely of the length of the web, and the reenforced strip is a similar strip bonded to the inside of the material of the bag but extending across the full Width of the material of which the tube is made.

6. A blank for a shopping bag having a reenforced bottom, the blank comprising a web having bag handles attached thereto at the upper end portion of the blank, there being two handles transversely spaced from one another for providing handles at opposite sides of the bag when the web is folded to form a tubular element, and a reenforcing strip bonded to the web across substantially the full width thereof with the strip spaced from the lower end of the blank by a distance less than the length of the blank that is turned in to form a bottom for the shopping bag.

7. The shopping bag blank of claim 6, in combination with other and similar blanks connected together in end toend relation, the web having bag handles attached thereto at longitudinally spaced stations lengthwise of the web, there being two handles transversely spaced from one another at each station for providing handles at opposite sides of each bag when the web is folded to form a tubular element, cuts through the web at each handle between grip ends of the handles and regions of attachment of the handles to the web, and reenforcing strips bonded to the web across substantially the full Width thereof at stations having the same longitudinal spacing as the handle locations, but with each strip spaced from the said cuts by a substantial distance on the sides of said cuts that are opposite the attachments of the handles to the web.

8. The plurality of shopping bag blanks described in claim 7, and in which each reenforcing strip is spaced from the grip portions of the handles, each strip being beyond the grip portion of the nearest handle in a direction opposite to the location of the handle connections with the web.

9. The method of reenforcing the bottom of a shopping bag made from a web having handles connected to the web at longitudinally spaced locations along the length of the web, there being two handles at each of said locations, which method comprises bonding a reenforcing strip to the web across substantially the full transverse Width thereof and at right angles to the longitudinal edges of the web, and locating the strip beyond the connection of the handles to the web and at a substantial distance therefrom in a direction away from the ends of the handles that connect with the web and beyond the line along which the web is cut to form separate bag blanks, and overlapping that portion of the web at which the web is folded inward to form the bottom of a bag.

l0. The method described in claim 9, characterized by the additional improvements which comprise having each of the handles a cord with its ends connected with the web by a patch bonded to the web, and having a cut through the web behind the portions of each handle that extend beyond the connected ends of the handle, and by having the reenforcing strip bonded to the web at a location beyond the handles which is most remote from their connections to the web.

11. A shopping bag blank comprising a longitudinally seamed tubular element in fiat condition and with handles extending from one end of the blank at both sides of the fiat element, the end with the handles having a straight edge across a portion of the Width of the at element and a recess edge portion across another portion of said edge behind each handle, the blank having bottom edges complementary in shape to the top edge, slits in the blank extending longitudinally and inward from the References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,601,566 Elliott Sept. 28, 1926 1,701,097 Broderick Feb. 5, 1929 2,330,255 Ames Sept. 28, 1943 2.858.970 Barnes et al. Nov. 4A 1958 

1. A SHOPPING BAG HAVING A REENFORCED BOTTOM, THE BAG COMPRISING A TUBULAR ELEMENT HAVING SIDE WALLS AND BEING OPEN AT ONE END AND FOLDED TO FORM A FLAT BOTTOM AT THE OTHER END, HANDLE PORTIONS AT THE OPEN END OF THE BAG, A REENFORCING STRIP ON THE INSIDE OF THE BAG AND BONDED TO THE TUBULAR ELEMENT AND EXTENDING PART WAY ACROSS, BUT ONLY PART WAY ACROSS THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG FROM ALL SIDES OF THE BAG, THE REENFORCING STRIP EXTENDING AROUND THE CORNERS WHERE THE SIDE WALLS MEET THE BOTTOM AND PART WAY UP THE SIDE WALLS. 